Official article description
Effective with respect to entries on or after January 1, 2024, and through November 9, 2026, articles the product of China, as provided in U.S. note 20(www) to this subchapter, each covered by an exclusion granted by the U.S. Trade Representative
Transcribed verbatim from the live USITC export for 2026 HTS Revision 15 on Aug 8, 2026. The heading text points to U.S. note 20(www); the enumerated scope lives in that note, not in the description above.
How this heading is treated
- Treatment: No change to the ordinary subheading rate.Column 1 General reads “The duty provided in the applicable subheading”, Column 1 Special reads “No separate entry in the schedule”, and Column 2 reads “No separate entry in the schedule”.
- Metals reached: Not metal-scoped — eligibility is by granted exclusion, not by material.
- Origin condition: Products of China covered by a USTR-granted exclusion.
- Controlling note: U.S. note 20(www), in the legal notes to subchapter III of Chapter 99.
A five-and-a-half month head start over the other live exclusion
The two live exclusion headings share an expiry and not a start. This one reaches entries from January 1, 2024; 9903.88.69 reaches them from June 15, 2024. Both run through November 9, 2026. For a current entry the difference is nil, but it decides reconciliations and post-summary corrections for the first half of 2024: an entry filed in, say, March 2024 falls inside this heading's window and outside the other's. Where a product is covered by both notes, the earlier start makes 9903.88.70 the operative line for that period — and where it is covered only by note 20(vvv), there is no exclusion to claim before June 15, 2024.
Why this heading exists separately at all
A schedule that already had a general exclusion line did not need a second one unless the grants behind it were scoped differently, and they were. U.S. note 20(www) enumerates its own product set, and the schedule attaches that set to List 2 alone by naming 9903.88.70 in 9903.88.02's opening clause and nowhere else. Read structurally: the range encodes eligibility twice, once in the note that lists products and once in the rate headings that agree to be displaced. Both have to point at an entry before the exclusion reaches it.
The reconciliation trap in a shared expiry date
Because 9903.88.69 and 9903.88.70 expire on the same day, they are routinely summarised together as “the two live Section 301 exclusions,” and a broker working from that summary can report either one for a covered product. The schedule does not permit it. Reporting 9903.88.70 against a List 1, List 3 or List 4A entry claims an exclusion those headings never carve out, and the error is invisible on a duty total because both lines produce the same ordinary-rate result. It surfaces on audit, against the heading text rather than against the amount paid. Confirm the list before the line.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between 9903.88.69 and 9903.88.70?
Coverage and start date. 9903.88.69 draws on U.S. note 20(vvv), reaches entries from June 15, 2024, and is named in the carve-out clause of all four Section 301 rate headings. 9903.88.70 draws on U.S. note 20(www), reaches entries from January 1, 2024, and is named only in 9903.88.02, the List 2 heading. Both run through November 9, 2026 and both leave the ordinary subheading duty unchanged.
Does 9903.88.70 apply to List 1 or List 3 goods?
No. Its exclusionary effect comes from being named in a rate heading's “Except as provided in headings” clause, and only 9903.88.02 names it. 9903.88.01, 9903.88.03 and 9903.88.15 each name 9903.88.69 but not 9903.88.70, as read from 2026 HTS Revision 15 on August 8, 2026. For a List 1, 3 or 4A entry, 9903.88.69 is the only live exclusion heading available.
Do I still pay the ordinary duty under 9903.88.70?
Yes. Column 1 General reads “The duty provided in the applicable subheading,” which removes the Section 301 addition and nothing else. The product's ordinary Column 1 rate, the merchandise processing fee, the harbor maintenance fee on ocean shipments, and any antidumping, countervailing, Section 232 or other Chapter 99 measure continue to apply on their own terms.
How to use this page
A Chapter 99 heading is reported alongside an ordinary Chapter 1–97 classification, never instead of it, so this page is the second half of a two-part answer. Settle the ordinary classification and the country of origin first, then read U.S. note 20(www) against the article, then select the heading. Coverage here is by enumerated 8-digit subheading rather than by material or product family, so a neighbouring code in the same four-digit heading can sit on a different list at a different rate.
For the 9903.88 map in one table, see China Section 301 Tariffs 2026 Review, which lists the headings with their treatment and cited subdivision. To be told when the range changes, see China Section 301 alerts. For how a Chapter 99 overlay sits on top of the ordinary duty columns, see What should importers know about Section 301 tariffs?.
Sources verified for this heading
- USITC Harmonized Tariff Schedule lookup for heading 9903.88.70 (retrieved Aug 8, 2026)
- USITC Harmonized Tariff Schedule — live export for Section 301 headings 9903.88.01–9903.88.70 (retrieved Aug 8, 2026)
- USITC Harmonized Tariff Schedule — completeness probe 9903.88.01–9903.88.99, returning exactly 66 rows (retrieved Aug 8, 2026)
- USITC current-release endpoint — 2026 HTS Revision 15 (retrieved Aug 8, 2026)
- USTR — Notice of Product Exclusion Extensions, 90 FR 55232 (December 1, 2025), setting the November 9, 2026 expiry carried in the 9903.88.69 and 9903.88.70 heading text (retrieved Aug 8, 2026)
- USTR — Initiation of Second Four-Year Review Process, 91 FR 24636 (May 6, 2026), covering the China Section 301 actions (retrieved Aug 8, 2026)
Last verified: Aug 8, 2026. The article description and all three duty columns above were read from the live USITC export for 2026 HTS Revision 15 on that date. USITC published four revisions in fourteen days during 2026, so confirm the controlling heading text, the cited U.S. note subdivision, and your entry date in the official source before filing. Informational estimates only. Verify with a licensed customs broker, trade counsel, or CBP ruling before filing.